Expat Life

When we moved the first time the word ‘expat’ was new to me. I didn’t even think about whether there would be expat resources available. I read one book – from the relocation company – about all the reasons expat assignments fail. Basically it’s because of the TRAILING SPOUSE…yep, another term I wasn’t really familiar […]

Following on from my blog post about book clubs, I thought I’d share some book recommendations for your summer reading. Because we all now that now that school’s out and summer’s here we all have acres more time to read, right?! What makes for great summer reading? Well, that’s about as good a question as […]

Book clubs. So much has been written about book clubs – the rise of bookclubs, the fall of bookclubs. There are books about book clubs and even a film about them. A million memes about book clubs…which are largely related to the amount of wine consumed at book clubs. So, I know, another article about […]

Ah, the triumph of hope over experience. Every year I think it will be different, every year it’s the same. It’s the last few weeks of the school year. When time goes on warp speed and EVERYTHING gets crammed into these last precious days. Right now I can’t keep track of what’s going on, who […]

It’s that time of year again when our heterogenous expat community can be grouped into two distinct tribes: the leavers and the stayers. And for those moving on, it’s a busy, emotional and often stressful time. This year, I am happy to report that I am a stayer. But the downside of that is having to say […]

A big part of any relocation is getting settled in your new expat house. But often this means a furnished flat, full of things you haven’t chosen. Or a house where none of the things you have shipped seem to quite work. So what can you do to make your expat house feel like home? And how […]

When you’re an expat you can gain a lot (and not just the ‘bread and wine’ pounds I have found here in Germany) but also miss out on a lot. I have missed big birthday celebrations, family weekends away, school reunions (phew!), hen weekends, weddings and the arrival of babies. I don’t like missing out. So I […]

I have lived away from home for four years now. Which in some ways is not that long really – equivalent to the length of time it took to do my degree (which included a year in France, not a repeat year…). However, when I think back to boarding the plane to Bangkok back in February 2013, what […]

There are always challenges when you move to a new country. And it’s easy to see all the things that are difficult. Or those that just get right on your nerves. So this post is the antithesis to all of that. This post is dedicated to the things I LOVE about living in Germany. Springtime in […]

Last week I went to the Netherlands. Without my children. To a conference. It was the annual FIGT (Families in Global Transition) Conference, which I found out about on Instagram, digital guru that I am (not). With no kids. Did I mention that bit already?! The FIGT conference was for three days but, not knowing anything […]